puzzle
by Hannah Leanne
Summary: nothing realy has happened in Sarah's life since that night three years ago. that was the case till her fathers death and she is dragged back into the world of magic, the underground and the goblin king.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A girl

An open grave, dark mound of earth gathered on either side of a marble gravestone. The coffin had already been lowered and the sermon delivered. As you can guess this is a funeral. The funeral of a man. This man has, had a normal live were nothing extraordinary, unusual or even anything remotely interesting ever happened. In fact the most interesting thing about this man was the death of his first wife. She was a woman whom made every single dull aspect of his normal life just a little more worthwhile. Their time together was short and uneventful (excluding the birth of a daughter) but it didn't' matter for long. The man remarried and years later he gained another child. Simple and normal. Nothing above the average. This is all irrelevant now that he was dead. What matters are not the events which have happened before his death or even him himself. What matted was who was there, the mourners who watched the vicar give his last words before his grave was fill in, and even more importantly the events which happen next

There were many mourners there to appreciate the sad day. All dressed in black and grey, all looking the same. Hidden amongst these drab, depressing cluster of people were some people of interest. Well, When I say some, I mean three. A girl in her late teens, or would it be early twenties? Well a young woman who is possible one of the most important people of this story. A boy, her younger brother by about 14 years and then their mother. The newly widowed step mother to the girl. The widow was dry faced and stony looking, her expression grim yet not entirely one of a woman whose love recently died. Then again she may have cried her tears hours before, days or maybe weeks before. her son was crying, crying without mercy or shame. He hadn't been crying before yet in the church the child's feelings spilt out and now they just wouldn't stop. However the story doesn't really involve them. They are mere catalysts which inspire and speed on the events of which create out story. The star of this tale is the girl, the girl holding her brothers hand looking at everyone wide eyed and yet not looking at anything at all.

the girl; pale skin as white as ivory, long deep chocolate hair (which for this occasion had been brushed back into a loose knot at the back of her head) and startling bright green eyes. Eyes which held back a months' worth of unshed tears. But now was the time to let all the pain go, to let every little thought of sadness and grief flow out. But she couldn't, there was no way she could allow herself to do that in her home let alone in public. Nearly everyone else around her was either sobbing or sniffing into sodden handkerchiefs or in fits form trying to hold back whales. The girl wouldn't cry, not here. Her pride wouldn't let her fall that low. And it wasn't as if her furthers death was unexpected. He had been ill for a while now. months and the girl wasn't about to lose it then and she wouldn't now. She'd stay strong for her brother and then once back at collage she'd sleep, eat, cry and all the other thing which accompany grieving. But for now she'd be strong and held her ground. There was no point in making her situation any worse than it already was.

once the funeral ended she's be hurried to a wake, a reception which she's have to pretend she's grateful for the support of those who showed up . But, if she was honest, she really wasn't. She didn't know any of the people around her minus her half-brother and step mother. Well…she never really called or even classed her as a parent. She was Karen. Karen the home wrecker no matter how much she and the girl tried there was no mending their relationship. They clashed with everything, never agreeing on anything, it was an endless circle where nothing ever gets accomplished or changed. Things did get better recently as the girl went for her first year in college. College was the break she needed, the freedom which gave her the chance to grow and more importantly gave her time away from her step mother.

Yet it wasn't all doom and gloom. The girl enjoyed the company of her brother. Even though he was young, a lot younger than the girl they got along. Almost the opposite kind of relationship she had with Karen. Without her little brother there was no reason for her to stay in town. She's seen the funeral; she's played her role as the grieving child. If she had any say in what happened she would have hopped back in her car and left never to return to the sad old home she grew up in. at least not while Karen was there. And this would be her rule now; if Karen wasn't there she could see her brother without any upset. And there was bound to be upset if Karen saw the girl round her child too much. Her "precious little Toby" couldn't be corrupted by her big bad step daughter after all. Life was sure to be harder from now on, now that her farther wasn't there to welcome her back home or force her over on the holidays.

'Sarah, we're leaving for the reception.' A curt voice snapped at the girl when the party of mourners started moving away from the grave men filling up the hole. Sarah hadn't moved an inch, unaware of what was happening around her. She looked to the sound of the voice too see Karen looking at her, her expression fixed as a menacing scowl. The young girl turned away from the grave and walked to her "family". Toby was beside his mother one hand on her shoulder though his attention was more on his sister. He had done his crying and he knew his mother did all she could before but he never knew about his sister. Never, even when she lived with him he was never certain and now more than ever he'd worry because of that.

Sarah looked at her family; she could just picture how the rest of the day would pan out. It almost seemed unbearable. How much did she have to pretend or put up with?

'no.' she muttered staring down at the ground. It was barely a whisper but in the chilled silence of the grave yard Karen herd it perfectly. She raised her eyebrows looking at her step daughter indignantly.

'No? What do you mean no?' Karen went to move forward but Sarah had already rushed past heading straight to her car. 'You can't just abandon everyone. You were the man's daughter! If anyone's meant to be there it's you.' She followed; Toby was pulled alone trapped in his mother's vice like grip. 'What will everyone think?' Sarah stopped turning to look at her step mother. She wasn't the person she wanted to be with, she didn't even want to be with Toby let alone a whole room full of strangers laughing about "good old times".

'I have worked to do; this isn't a break for me. I have college and course work.' Sarah turned back to her car pulling open the door. 'Life goes on.' She sighed before turning to Toby. The four year old gave her a weak smile. His nose was still running down past his chin on to his little black suit which Karen had wrestled him into. Sarah replied his smile warmly pulling out a paper tissue from the bowels of her purse. He knelt down wiping his face clean. 'You've been great today.' She grinned further. 'Look after your mom; I'll be back in a few months.' He let out a small high pitched moan of displeasure yet Sarah wasn't quite sure if it was because she was leaving or the fact that he was forcibly having his face cleaned.

She straightened up giving Karen one last look and then nodded before getting in her car and shutting the door on the only family she had left. Karan was really going to hold this against her, leaving her father's funeral for college. But it really wouldn't matter; it wasn't her business, not anymore. So the girl leaves the graveyard and her family, feeling a little down but as a whole she had left unharmed from this venture. She drove alone out of the city and virtually no other car interrupted her journey. Once she was clear from all the buildings so only grass, fields and fields of grass, lay before her on the warm summers evening. It had been hours since she spoke and now there was simply nothing. She felt nothing and really couldn't bring herself to do anything. Not even drive. It was a lie about having work, she had finished all course work and exams long ago, any spare time she had now was dedicated to writing, reading and research. What in? Anything which took her fancy. She was top of her class and a devoted student, not that it would mean anything back home…if she could even call it that anymore.

She sighed stopping her car at the side of the road. Since when did her life get so dull? When exactly did the magic leave? It wasn't too long ago when she had friends. Well at least that's what she thought. She couldn't really remember. It was all unfocused. It was as if she was looking at her memories though fogged glass. There were shapes and muffled sound but in she couldn't quite make it out. It was blocked to her. What ever happened must have been a while ago and so she put it to the back of her mind, mother of the time. Still on moments like these, when sadness was almost overwhelming, she liked to try and push the glass wall of blocking her from those distant memories. The thoughts seemed happy, as a party was just on the other side. Again, when she began to do this she was struck down by a near overwhelming shot of sadness. Wouldn't you? After all to almost remember something which could have possibly been the best point in your life? To not remember people, friends when you really needed them? Maybe she was just working herself up, she defiantly though so.

Sarah got out of her car walking round a little breathing heavily trying to clear her head. Tears were still heavy in her eyes.

'Don't do it.' she hissed at herself turning to face her reflection in her wing mirror. This wasn't a good idea, to actually see her in this state. To see the greens of her eyes washed in a haze of tears. It was just spurring her on. She growled whipped her head round pacing again, faster, more determinedly. She growled again furiously wiping the water from her eyes and taking one more deep breath. It was almost dark and she needed to get back to the college dorm before eleven. If she was any later her roommate would notice and ask questions and she really didn't feel like trying to explain why she was back so late.

Even as she tried to calm herself she remained parked on the road side standing beside her car. Driving felt like such a chore. And was it a bad thing to want to be by yourself in a time like this? No, not really.

'No, Nicki will ask questions.' Sarah finally opened her car door firmly. Her mind was made up. She'd leave. And with that she started the engine and started driving again. All she had to do was keep a steady pace she all would be alright. She picked up speed. Everything would be fine.

Despite the desperate attempt to arrive back at her dorm room before night fall the moon rose and Sarah was still nowhere near her college. Driving at night wasn't something which she was particularly keen over. What made the situation worse were her tired eyes, the strain of holding in the tears had taken its toll. Once again she pulled over. She literally couldn't keep driving. She groaned rubbing her eyes in a final attempt to see if she'd stay awake. It just made it worse. She looked around the blank stretch of road looking in hope for some kind of Band B or hotel. No such luck. She groaned unbuckling her seatbelt and stretching out on her the driver's seat. Ever so slowly her eyes started closing. She was too tired to notice anything else. The only thing worth noting was how heavy her eye lids were suddenly.

What appeared to be a few moments later Sarah sprung upright. Something was making a scratching noise, something outside. Well she thought something was making a scratching sound but there was nothing. She looked around the windows but there was nothing. She looked at her watch.

'Shit.' She hissed staring at the time; it had been three hours since she had fallen asleep. She turned the engine back on messing round with her seat belt when the scratching started again. That wasn't normal; as long as she owned the car it hadn't been perfect. It was some second hand rust bucket but it never made that sound before. She peered out the window, there was nothing there. Sarah frowned. Was she imagining the noise? She couldn't be that tired. Was it part of her dream? Was she still dreaming?

'no.' she said calmly. 'I definitely heard something.' There was only one thing for it. She'd have to go out and investigate. Sarah gritted her teeth before swinging open the driver's door. She jumped out looking round fast. She was half expecting a mad man to jump out form the other side of the car.

This situation reminded her of a story her roommate Nicki told her not too long ago. A silly urban legend she dismissed at the time, but now she wished she had paid more attention. In the story a couple were driving down a country road at night. There was no other car in sight and there hadn't been for a good few miles. This made it all worse when their car slowed down to a halt in the middle of the road. They had run out of gas. This was simple typical, they had passed a gas satiation a few moments ago without stopping. The husband tells the wife to stay in the car while he goes back and asks for help. She wasn't about to argue, it was cold and dark outside. So as he went of back down the road she slept in the car waiting for his return. The wife was the waken later but slow ear piercing grating noises. From the distance a light was shining down the road. The noise continued. A salute of a man appeared in the light. The noise rang out again; it was coming from the car. The man had a gun. Then the men called out to the woman "get out of the car slowly and run." A thundering crash engulfed the car. The man called again "get out the car and run. Don't look back." Another thundering crash. The woman got out the car and started running. The crashes continued. She couldn't help it, she looked back. There on top of her car was a mad man holding the severed head of her husband and was repeatedly slamming it down onto the car roof. That's how Sarah thought the story went, she never really found out what happened in the end. But that image of the mad man wouldn't leave her mind.

As she circled her car her breath caught in her throat. What if she was the real urban legend? What if it was really happening to her? No. no, that was silly; she was working herself up again. Still she couldn't help the image of the severed head being hers as it gets brought down onto a car roof over and over. She felt her heart beat in her throat the more she looked round. Why did she have to stop? Sleep wasn't that important. Why did she have to get out of the car? Of course it was her imagination. Something flew out of the darkness at her.

'NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' she yelped bringing her hands up to her face. She stumbled back onto the road as something pushed her back with a loud ear splitting shriek. She fell yelping once more as she collided with the tarmac.

She stayed still for a few moments breathing heavily, even more so than before. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly bracing for the mortal blow which never came. She opened one eye looking round. There was nothing there. It was just her car on the road and her lying next to it pathetically with grazed palms. She let out her breath relaxing. What a fool she had been.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sweet songs 

Sarah didn't get back into the car. Her head was still spinning slightly from the mental panic she had put herself through. It was so silly, to get yourself worked up like that. She hadn't done that to herself in years. She stud up and stared at her hands. The thin layer of skin on her palms had been torn off from her fall. That was just what she needed. Who knew getting back to college would be such a quest? She eventually shook her head and got back in the driver's seat. It was pointless worrying about any of this, she just needed to get home and get into bed. Hopefully her roommate would be in bed too and she could simply just slip past undisturbed. Once more she buckled up and drove on, leaving the strangeness of what had happened behind her.

She got back to her dorm room early the next day. Nothing could have made her stop again. She didn't meet another person as she parked and then very swiftly went up to her dorm. The dorm itself was old, it was nothing like the house which she grew up in. old, not a good style of old where amazing stone carvings coated the walls and it had no story about it. It wasn't big either, it had several cramped rooms with bathrooms and you were all expected to share. This wasn't Sarah's issue with the dorm however; her major problem about this building was that it looked as if it'd fall over if the wind pushed it the wrong way. Her worry was well placed for in the winter she swore she felt the whole dorm shift to the left one particularly stormy night. Not all the dorms on the campus were like this however, it was just hers. Why? Well she was just lucky. It wasn't like she really wanted to stay in a warm building with insulation or heating. It wasn't as if she cared about having her own bathroom or having a lock on the door which only seemed to work half of the time.

Her room was another story; two beds crammed into the smallest amount of space with two half desks and a closet (of which she couldn't even open the door to). This made the task of getting in unnoticed all the more difficult. Her bed was unfortunately the furthest away from the door pushed right up to the window. If she could find a way to scale the dorm and slip into the window her problem would be solved but sadly she really wasn't skilled in climbing. Instead she took the walk of shame up to the highest floor and fished in her pockets for her keys. Ever so slowly she began to push the door open, looking through the narrow crack she made she found the lump on Nicki's bed breathing steadily and deeply. She was safe. She opened the door further breathing in while she very carefully pulled herself through the door. It was harder than she had thought, never once had she been the one on this side of the sneaking. She was usually the one innocently sleeping soundly in her bed.

Once past the door (which was a mission in itself) Sarah took a looked round her room, trying to find best route round all the mess and filth which randomly appeared in her absence. She did try her best for it not to look like a hurricane blew thought the room, but try as she might it looked as if she had fallen right into the centre of a trash-sight. It was a sea of empty food packets, clothes and random papers (which looked like they had been torn out form a few text books). Once the slowly shut the door behind her she started to wade out into the mess. She was doing well, she was silent after all and the body in the bed hadn't sired once. That was till the light flicked on. She froze in place confused, there was a body in the bed, and the light switch was next to the bathroom door which she'd already passed. In that one moment hundreds of possible situations ran though her mind. Just who was the body in the bed?

'Sarah?' that was the voice of the roommate, Nicki. She snapped her head round to see her roommate standing sleepily in the doorway. There, in a pale green bathrobe was the last person Sarah wanted to see. Nicki was a morning person, and night person, she was hard, for Sarah, to understand. She never seemed to have anything wrong in her life and if she did she simple didn't care. That was just not what she needed at this moment; she didn't need someone cheerful to tell her that death wasn't a big deal. She knew it, really she did. But for a few days she wanted to just sulk and be miserable. Nicki wouldn't let her do that. Nicki would force her out into public to "get over" what happened. Nothing was a big deal for her after all.

Nicki was a tall girl, about a foot taller than Sarah and thinner, ridiculously thin. Sarah didn't know whether to be jealous about never being able to attain such a figure, or grateful for the fact that because she had some measurable curves a light wind wouldn't carry her off. Nicki, on the other hand didn't seem to realise what she had. She ate all the time (which might explain the state of the room). And it wasn't' just about her figure, she was stunning. A bubbly blond air head with big eyes and a carefree attitude- the kind of girl you love to hate. For Sarah it was hard to hate this girl, but at the same time she made it so easy to. The whole thing was enough to give her a headache. And for some reason this girl was awake and another body was in her bed, it didn't take long for Sarah to figure out what happened. She looked back to Nicki's bed and, just as Sarah thought, there was a male emerging from the sheets. A very nice male, one which suited Nicki very well but Sarah couldn't stop feeling slightly uncomfortable. It was a good job she wasn't here last night.

'Are you just getting in?' Nicki had pounced walking past and bumping Sarah playfully before she reached the bed and, consequently, the male too.

'Yhea.' Sarah replied stiffly trying to look everywhere but the bed. 'I see you've had a busy night.' She gave a quick glance to her roommate while walking round the room. She winced as she felt something crunch under foot. 'I'm surprised if there isn't another body hidden under all this.'

'Oh yhea, we had fun the yesterday.' Nicki held the hand of the, what appeared to be, unconscious man in her bed. Nicki grinned up at the clearly disapproving Sarah before eyeing her up and down. 'You're wearing a lot of black…who died?' she asked point blank. Sarah turned her back on Nicki, marching to the wardrobe to wrestle to door open.

'It doesn't matter, that was yesterday.' Sarah managed to open the door enough to put her arm in. she fished out a pair of jeans and a random shirt. Turned out it was long sleeved with dark red and blue stripes. She did on occasion like her circumstances. Every morning it was like a lucky dip with the wardrobe. She looked back at Nicki who still looked like she was waiting for an answer.

'It's none of your business.' She folded her arms. 'I'm probably going to be in there,' she pointed to the bathroom. 'For an hour. You might want to think of what you want to do with him.' She gestured at the man in Nicki's bed. Nicki looked back round at the male wide eyed.

'Oh yhea, I didn't kick him out…cool.' Sarah locked herself into the bathroom. She really didn't want to hear the story behind how Nicki "snared another one".

Sarah spent more than an hour in the bathroom. Not that she really needed to spend so much time in there. She just felt no urge to see anyone else. She lied to her family about having work to be alone, just because she's back with at college doesn't change the fact that she wants to just be a lone for a little she stayed in the shower spending an abnormal amount of time slowly getting the knots out of her hair. She decided to re-join her roommate when she realised her fingers looked more like strange pale resins than actual flesh. So she dressed and braised herself for more unpleasant convocation. This time when she opened their Nicki was fully dress and so was the random male, his hands wrapped round her waist possessively as they sat on her bed talking about some random TV show Sarah knew nothing of. Nicki looked up once the door was open a grin spread across her face. The male didn't even take his eyes of the tall blond in his lap. To Sarah he looked more like a puppy in a new home.

'Took your time.' Nicki patted the spot in front of her on the bed, the clear indication for Sarah to join them. Sarah took one look at the male before sitting on her one bed. Something about him was off putting. It wasn't the fact that she'd seen him naked (minus the bed sheets), and it wasn't the fact that she didn't know him. Sarah wasn't Naïve, she'd been called shy, stubborn and even cold but she had never been called naïve. One naked man wouldn't threaten her. So what about this man was so strange? Nicki jumped up form where she sat and wrapped her arms round Sarah.

'you going to tell me where you've been or what?' she squeezed Sarah as if my trapping her she'd have no other choice but to tell her about the funeral.

'I'm not saying.' Sarah sighed brushing the girl off her. 'I honestly just wanted to be by myself for a while.' She ran her hand through her wet hair. It was longer and darker than ever. She had gone a year without a haircut thanks to the coasts of college and now it was wet she could really see how much it had grown.

'Was it a guy?' Nicki broke Sarah's train of thought again. 'I never see you with guys…or anyone unless you count me. But I can't really look at myself; that would just be creepy. Unless I was looking at myself through a mirror- that's pretty ordinary.' Nicki had most certainly woken up.

Sarah listened to Nicki talk for a while before announcing that she was to the library. This was safe ground; Nicki wouldn't every go to a place with so little day light voluntarily. So she had to let Sarah go with no answers to where she'd been. Sarah was just glad to get out of eye site from that random man (she never even got introduced to the man in her room; Sarah's bet was that Nicki didn't even know his name). Once again Sarah took refuge in her car. She sat in the driver's seat feeling totally drained. She hadn't slept much and with Nicki on her case about where she'd been there was little to no chance of peace for the next few days.

'HAY.' Someone had slammed against the passenger's side window. Sarah jumped gripping the steering wheel tightly before turning to glare at Nicki who had launched herself at the car. She opened the window to allow the cheerful lean in panting slightly from running after her.

'What?' Sarah addressed the girl.

'Oh, oh hohoho.' Nicki shook her finger at Sarah smiling slightly. 'You don't think I'm letting you run off sulking with your tail between your legs. You're upset and I'm a good roommate.' She opened the car door slipping into the passenger's seat. 'Let's talk it out in the library.'

'There's no talking in the library. It's kinda a quiet place.' Sarah ran her hand though her hair again. 'And I've got work-'

'No you don't. Don't you start with that! I know for a fact that you finished your exams at least a week ago…I think.' The girl took a purse the think. This was kinda amusing. This girl always got herself tangled in her own thoughts, in that way she's much more like Sarah than either one of them would care to admit. Sarah cleared her throat to bring the girl back into reality. 'Anyway,' she continued blushing slightly. 'You always brush people off with that working crap and I'm not falling for it.'

'Fine.' Sarah muttered turning the keys. 'But I'm not about to let you shout about my personal life in a quiet place like the library. I have a good reputation over there.' She began driving. Pulling away from the door to the road she couldn't help but feel a little let down. She enjoyed going to the library.

'Then let's go to the beach.' Nicki pulled the steering wheel sharply in the direction of the beach. Sarah slammed her foot down on the break as the car swerved violently in the other direction. She looked sternly at Nicki again.

'You just need to ask! Why the hell do you want to kill, me you little phyco?' Sarah snapped slamming her hands down knot the wheel. Nicki quickly realised her hand moving it down to her lap in a flash. Taking a deep breath Sarah continued to drive. Sarah growled to herself staring down the road.

'I hate this.' she hissed to herself. 'I really hate this.' Nicki patted her arm.

'Sorry, didn't mean it.' Sarah snorted in response. 'No harm no foul?'

'No no no no.' Sarah tapped the wheel irritably. 'Big foul, major foul. If you insist on interfering with me my car and life are off limits.' She flicked her eyes to Nicki. 'Got it?'

'Got it.' she nodded sharply. 'No touchy the car. The risky the life. Got it.' Nicki turned her attention to the window. 'I just like the beach that's all.' She fidgeted on the seat feeling something large pushing into her back.

'The beach? It's still too cold.' Sarah rolled her eyes. 'It feels like I'm looked after my baby brother being with you. You're both irritating and endearing at the same time. It's kinda annoying.' She looked swiftly at the fidgeting girl. She was frowning trying to sit back down without resting on the seat at all. Sarah frowned trying not to look at her; it was more than a little awkward. 'What's wrong with you?'

Nicki was still moving round, hovering over the passenger's seat.

'You're officially the worst passenger in the history of car journeys.' Sarah pulled over to allow Nicki to sort herself out.

'It's not my fault.' She snapped for once not sounded so cheerful. 'Something's sticking in my back.' She turned putting her hand in the cushion seat.

'Come on, there's nothing put padding and springs there. This things so old you probably felt a spring.' But even as she said this Nicki pulled something out form the depths of the cushion, something small and round. It was an orb, a small clear orb. It looked just like a tiny crystal ball, small enough to hold in one hand.

'Wow, how could you lose a thing like this?' Nicki cheered. 'It's so perfect!' she chimed happily holding it close to her face. Sarah couldn't really correct her, it did seem perfect. It even seem to laminate dimly, it felt familiar. No, not familiar- welcoming. There was no way it could be familiar, Sarah had never seen it before. 'What is it? Some kind of pearl? Or maybe jewellery?' Nicki waved it under Sarah's nose.

'How am I supposed to know? I didn't even know it was down there. And what kind of pearl looks like that? It looks more like glass…or a bubble.' She frowned staring at it more. It didn't make sense, it looked so fragile. There was no way it could have survived after being stuffed into a seat cushion. Then a horrible thought hit Sarah. It was rear that anything goes on the passenger's seat, that even goes for people. And she'd never seen that thing before; whatever it was it wasn't hers and it had gotten in recently. What if it had gotten in there the other night? What if someone put it in the car while she was sleeping? She knew something happened, it wasn't just her head. Well most of it was but there was more to it. She knew it and this thing; this crystal held the answers…well maybe one or two of them.

'Earth to Sarah!' Nicki flicked her nose. 'Drivers aren't meant to space out.' Sarah blinked turning her fully conscious attention to the orb again.

'Give me that for a sec.' Sarah held out her hand to taking the orb form her roommate. The effect was almost instant. Her vision burled and all went black. Yet no matter how confusing it was it was yet again familiar. As Sarah dropped the orb falling back into her seat she could have sworn she heard music. A soft faint tune but it was muffled as if she were hearing it though a pane of glass.


End file.
